SQUARE ENIX

is a Japanese video game company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the ''Final Fantasy'' series, the ''Dragon Quest'' series (known as ''Dragon Warrior'' in North America from 1989 until 2005), and the ''Kingdom Hearts'' series. Square Enix was formed as the result of a merger between rivals Square Co. and the Enix Corporation. On April 1, 2003, Enix legally absorbed Square, with Square stockholders receiving 0.81 shares of stock in the new company compared to Enix stockholders receiving a one-to-one trade. Despite this, many top officials within Square assumed leadership roles in the new corporate hierarchy, including Square president Yōichi Wada, who was appointed president of the new corporation.

Contents

Corporate developments

Production teams

Properties

Computer and video games

Square Enix game series

Online Gaming

Film

Manga

Studios

Public opinion

See also

References

External links

Corporate developments

Square Enix has regional operations, including Square Enix, Inc. (for all of North America) and Square Enix Ltd. (for Europe and other areas that use the PAL-television standard). In July 2003, Square Enix relocated their headquarters to Yoyogi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo. In March 2004, Square Enix acquired UIEvolution, Inc. in order to strengthen its wireless market. On August 22, 2005, Square Enix announced its acquisition of the amusement gaming developer and publisher, Taito Corporation, renowned for their arcade hits, ''Space Invaders'' and the ''Bubble Bobble'' series. By September 28, 2005, Square Enix had wholly acquired Taito. In January 2005, the company expanded operations to Beijing, China by establishing Square Enix (China) Co., Ltd as a wholly owned subsidiary. The company also has a controlling interest in Community Network Software Engine of Beijing, China which focuses on network middleware for gaming.
Square Enix has just recently acquired an Unreal Engine 3 license, to help in the development of future titles and game development tools.^[1]

Production teams

As of September 2003, Square Enix' production staff were divided in eight different Square teams:^[2]

★ Production Team 1 headed by Yoshinori Kitase

★ Production Team 2 headed by Akitoshi Kawazu

★ Production Team 3 headed by Hiromichi Tanaka (responsible for ''Final Fantasy XI'')

★ Production Team 4 headed by Yasumi Matsuno

★ Production Team 5 headed by Yusuke Hirata

★ Production Team 6 headed by Toshiro Tsuchida (responsible for the ''Front Mission'' series)

★ Production Team 7 headed by Takashi Tokita

★ Production Team 8 headed by Koichi Ishii (responsible for the ''Mana'' series)
In addition to two Enix teams:²

★ Production Team 9 headed by Ari Miyake (responsible for ''Dragon Quest'')

★ Production Team 10 headed by Yosuke Saito
As of May 2005, Production Team 10 was headed by Yoshinori Yamagishi and was responsible for producing tri-Ace's games.^[3] Yusuke Hirata left Square Enix in June 2005 to join Aquaplus,^[4] while Yasumi Matsuno left in August 2005 for speculated reasons.^[5]

Properties

Computer and video games

Main articles: List of Square Enix games, List of Taito games

By far, Square Enix's video gaming properties are its most valued assets. Square Enix's ''Dragon Quest'' franchise is considered the second most popular game series in Japan after ''Pokémon'', and each new installment of the series routinely reaches the top of Japanese sales records, selling over 41 million units so far, with about 39 million from Japan. Overall, the ''Final Fantasy'' franchise can be considered the company's most important asset, with total worldwide sales of over 75 million units as of 2007.^[6] More recently, Square Enix's ''Kingdom Hearts'' series (developed in collaboration with Disney's Buena Vista Games) has become massively popular worldwide, adding another valuable asset to the company.
In early 2003, Square Enix's U.S. subsidiary registered the ''Dragon Quest'' trademark, retiring the ''Dragon Warrior'' moniker, which was necessitated in 1989 due a trademark conflict with the now defunct TSR, Inc. In May 2004 Square Enix announced an agreement with Sony Online Entertainment for the Japanese publishing rights to ''EverQuest II''. As of 2006, Square Enix has produced titles for the Sony PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, and Microsoft Xbox 360 video game consoles, as well as for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable handheld game consoles. The company has announced titles for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii consoles, as well as for the Nintendo DS. In addition, they have published games for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers, and for various models of mobile phone. Square Enix mobile phone games are available on the Vodafone network in some European countries, including Ireland, Great Britain, Spain, and France. Twenty five of Square Enix's video games were included in ''Famitsu'' magazine's top 100 games, seven being in the top ten list.^[7] Square Enix's other franchises lag behind many non-Square Enix franchises saleswise.
Before its launch, Michihiro Sasaki, senior vice president of Square Enix, spoke about the PlayStation 3, saying "We don't want the PlayStation 3 to be the overwhelming loser, so we want to support them, but we don't want them to be the overwhelming winner either, so we can't support them too much."^[8] This reiterated Square Enix's commitment to all three next-gen consoles.
Square Enix has revealed that a new seventh generation game engine called the White Engine will power the PlayStation 3 exclusive ''Final Fantasy XIII'' and other future PS3 games. Originally in development for the PlayStation 2, the White Engine was moved to the PlayStation 3 after developers realized the power of that console. In addition, the company has licensed Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 for use outside White Engine projects.

Square Enix game series

★ ''Dragon Quest'' - from Enix - established on the MSX in 1986

★ ''Final Fantasy'' - from Square - established on the NES in 1987

★ ''Itadaki Street'' - (Japan-only) - from Enix - established on the Famicom in 1988

★ ''SaGa'' - from Square - established on the Game Boy in 1989

★ ''Mana'' (''Seiken Densetsu'' series in Japan) - from Square - franchise established on the Game Boy in 1991

★ ''Chrono'' - from Square - established on the SNES in 1995

★ ''Front Mission'' - from Square - established on the Super Famicom in 1995

★ ''Star Ocean'' - from Enix - established on the Super Famicom in 1996

★ '' - from Enix - established on the PlayStation in 2000

★ ''Kingdom Hearts'' - from Square with Disney - established on the PlayStation 2 in March 28, 2002

★ ''Drakengard'' - in development for Enix, but published under the Square Enix name - established on the PlayStation 2 in 2003

Online Gaming

Square Enix first started its online gaming business phase back in 2000. The first online game Square Enix created was ''Final Fantasy XI''. ''Final Fantasy XI'' was first released in Japan on May 16, 2002, for the PlayStation 2. In March 2004, Square Enix released the game worldwide. With the huge success from ''Final Fantasy XI'', Microsoft had the game ported into the Xbox 360 in April 2006, making it the first ''Final Fantasy'' game ever to be on the Xbox franchise. Due to the success of their MMORPG, Square Enix began a new project called ''. GamePot, a Japanese game portal, got the license to publish ''Fantasy Earth'' in Japan and it was released in Japan as "Fantasy Earth ZERO." In November 2006, however, Square Enix dropped the ''Fantasy Earth Zero'' project, giving acquisition to GamePot.

Film

★ '' was produced by now-defunct Squaresoft subsidiary Square Pictures prior to the merger. Its box-office failure caused Enix to delay the merger, which was already considered before the creation of the film, for fear of associating with a company that loses money.

★ ''Final Fantasy VII Advent Children'' is a CGI-animation movie based on Squaresoft's successful PlayStation game ''Final Fantasy VII'', set two years after the events of the game.

Manga

The company also has a manga publishing division in Japan (from Enix) called 'Gangan Comics'. It publishes manga for the Japanese market only. Titles published by Gangan Comics include ''Papuwa'', ''Pani Poni'', '' and ''Fullmetal Alchemist''. Also contains manga adaptations of diverse Enix, and later Square Enix games, like ''Dragon Quest'', ''Kingdom Hearts'' and ''Star Ocean''. Some of these titles were also adapted into anime series.
''Fullmetal Alchemist'' so far is the most successful offspring of Square Enix's manga branch. The anime series obtained great popularity in Japan and even spawned a movie sequel. Both series and movie are licensed to many locations worldwide (in North America by FUNimation Entertainment). The same occurs with its manga series, licensed in North America by Viz Media.
''Kingdom Hearts'' and ''Spiral'' were licensed in North America by Tokyopop, however, due to unknown reasons, Tokyopop dropped ''Spiral'', and the title is now pending release by Hachette's Yen Press.
''Pani Poni Dash!'', an anime series based on the ''Pani Poni'' manga, was licensed in North America by ADV Films.

Studios

★ Square Enix's internal studios in Osaka/Tokyo, Japan and Beijing, China

★ UIEvolution in Bellevue, Washington

Public opinion

★ The company won IGN's award for Best Developer of 2006 for the PlayStation 2.^[9]

★ The Better Business Bureau has assigned the company's North American subsidiary, Square Enix, Inc., a rating of "B." ^[10]

See also

★ List of Square Enix games

★ Square Enix Ultimate Hits

References

1. Square Enix Acquires Unreal Engine 3 License Tomer
2. Square Enix Talks Current Status Winkler, Chris
3. Yoshinori Yamagishi Interview (PS2) Nutt, Christian
4. Square Enix Producer Joins Aquaplus Winklet, Chris
5. Retronauts: Volume 4 – Yasumi Matsuno Parish, Jeremy
6. Square Enix Company Information
7. Japan Picks the Best Games Ever Wollenschlaeger, Alex
8. Square Enix wants a three-way race Sinclair, Brian
9. IGN presents Best of 2006
10. Company Report – Square Enix, Inc.


★ Yahoo! Finance company profile

★ GameFAQs release listing

★ IGN company profile

★ TGS 2005: Square Enix Video Wall Presentation

★ Japan Game Software Firms Square, Enix to Merge

★ The Bell Tree

★ Top 10 Wildest Statements by Industry Veterans

External links

★ Square Enix Global site

★ PlayOnline Square Enix's portal for their online titles including ''Final Fantasy XI'' & ''Front Mission Online''

★ Fantasy Earth Zero Japan site Square Enix's 2nd MMO

★ History of Enix and Square (official site)

★ Financial details of Square Enix's acquisition of Taito

★ Square Haven - A Square Enix fan Resource

★ Square Insider - A Square Enix fan Resource